For those who aren’t familiar with you what do you do?
I work my dream gig. I work for Top Cow Productions. I work with the direct market, libraries, manage social media, and the Top Cow online store. When I’m not on the company time, I write, letter, and edit comics.
Do you think starting off in comics journalism has helped you as a creator?
Actually, I started making comics when I was 18 years old. It was until I started working for a bank where I could afford to print my stories. I quit that job to become a journalist. That experience lead me to meet people and write stories beyond my scope of the world I thought existed around me. It certainly made me a better writer, but I was going to make comics regardless of what I was doing.
What are your main duties at Top Cow?
I do a lot there. You can ask me in person at a con coming near you.
Tell us about La Voz De M.A.Y.o. Tata Rambo?
The comic is about my great-grandfather, Ramon Jaurigue, co-founded the M.A.Y.O. group and helped the Pascua Yaqui Natives keep their land and become recognized as a tribe, but this is also about me as a person of color in the comic book industry.
This being such a personal story has it been intimidating to work on?
It was because my thesis is that the tribe and historians omitted my Tata and the work MAYO did from the history books. Thankfully, they knew what they were doing was important, so they documented everything. I want to reclaim that for MAYO because I’m tired of brown people being ghosted after accomplishing so much.
What made you decided to use kickstarter?
Kickstarter is the best deal for indie creators. You’re not competing with Marvel and DC. This is a grassroots campaign to make my story a reality without a monopoly between me and the public. Granted, it’s a mega corporation that is profiting, but, it’s hard to escape that.
What advice do you have for aspiring creators?
Make comic books. Do whatever it takes. If your comic doesn’t get you out of bed every morning then it’s time to reconsider your passion.
How did you get into comics as a reader?
My parents used to bargain hunt and they brought home comics college kids left behind. They loved the movies, but I was engrossed with the comics. I became obsessed. I loved being in my head and making these stories come alive.
What made you want to create them?
I just knew when I was a kid that that’s what I wanted to do. The medium spoke to me. It guided me in ways that religion and television couldn’t. I learned my morals and values from the stories that were presented to me.
What are some of your all time favorite comics?
Henry: Stray Bullets by David and Maria Lapham. It’s the best noir story of all time.
How can we support you or follow your work?
Please check out my Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hbarajas/la-voz-de-mayo-tata-rambo-2?ref=user_menu
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